20 War in the Air and at Sea Air Aces in Battle
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314-326 120820 11/1/04 3:55 PM Page 314 Chapter 20 War in the Air and at Sea Air Aces in Battle Almost everyone has heard of the legendary plane far below. He put his Fokker into a steep “Red Baron.” He was the most famous Ger- dive and moved in on the plane’s tail. His tar- man flyer of World War I. But few people get was a young Canadian flier, Wilfred May. know that it was a Canadian, Roy Brown, who It was a tense moment. May’s gun jammed. finally shot down the Red Baron. Luckily, another Canadian pilot, Captain Roy On 21 April 1918, Manfred von Rich- Brown, saw what was happening and swept in thofen, the Red Baron, was flying high above behind the Red Baron. Brown, in his Sopwith the Somme valley in his bright crimson Fok- Camel, opened fire on von Richthofen. The ker triplane. Suddenly, he spotted an Allied Red Baron was hit and fell into a deadly spin. Moments later the German war ace was dead at the age of 26. Today the seat of the Red Baron’s plane is displayed at the Royal Mil- itary Institute in Toronto. You can put your finger through the bullet hole in the seat. Reflecting/Predicting 1. Based on this story, describe some of the risks World War I flyers took, and Canadian pilot some of the dangers they faced.What Roy Brown. He do you think the life of a World War I once said,“I love flyer was like? flying, not killing.” 2. Examine the picture. Describe the airplanes.What might be some advantages and disadvantages of these Manfred von planes in battle? Richthofen, Germany’s Red Baron. 314 314-326 120820 11/1/04 3:55 PM Page 315 Chapter 20: War in the Air and at Sea 315 Dogfights in the Air hit its own propeller blades. The Germans also During World War I, Canada had no air force of had gasfilled balloons called Zeppelin dirigi- its own. Canadians who wanted to fly joined bles or airships. These were used on observa- the British Royal Flying Corps. It turned out tion missions and bombing raids. Eventually, that many Canadians were excellent flyers. both sides used airships. At the beginning of the war, Germany By 1917, the Allies had developed the seemed to have the advantage in the air. It had Sopwith Camel, an excellent fighter plane. the most aircraft (400 compared with 156 Soon, the tide began to turn. The Allies started French and 113 British). The Germans had also to take the upper hand in air combat. A group developed a fighter plane called the Fokker. It of Canadian pilots called the Black Flight was armed with a machine gun that had a played an important role in gaining control of timed firing mechanism so that bullets did not the skies. In their black planes, they shot down 10 German fighters in one day on 6 June 1917. Over the next few months, they flew many more successful missions. Canada had several famous air aces. An ace was a fighter who had shot down at least five enemy planes. The great air aces included Germany’s Manfred von Richthofen, Britain’s Alfred Ball, and Canada’s Billy Bishop. Von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron, downed 80 Allied planes. As a group, Canadian fighter pilots brought down 438 enemy aircraft during World War I. Canadians were among the top scoring aces of all the British fliers. It was a remarkable record! Close combat between two or more planes in the air was called a dogfight. Pilots tried to manoeuvre their light planes so they could dive on the enemy from behind and fire their guns. World War I flyers lived a dangerous life.The percentage of pilots killed was higher than in any other branch of the military. In late 1916, it was said that the average life of a pilot was Airships were huge balloons with a metal frame. about three weeks.There were no parachutes They were filled with hydrogen gas. Some had plat- to save any who were unlucky enough to be forms on the top. Guns on these platforms could shot down.This painting of a dogfight is by shoot at airplanes overhead.The airships also Canadian artist C.R.W. Nevinson. dropped bombs on Allied cities. 314-326 120820 11/1/04 3:55 PM Page 316 316 Unit 4: Canada and World War I, 1914-1919 Tech Link Aircraft and Submarines of World War I Aircraft positions. The earliest planes hen the war broke out in were usually single-seaters. W1914, the airplane was a Their maximum speed was new and unproven invention. between 95 and 125 km/h. Few military leaders had any They could stay in the air for confidence that the airplane only an hour without re- could be an effective weapon in fuelling. As the war went on, war. At first, unarmed planes both sides developed more were used only to scout enemy effective fighter planes. Sopwith Camel (British biplane) TechFacts Maximum speed: 182 km/h Wing span: 8.5 m Length: 5.7 m Range: 249 km Armament: two belt-fed Vickers 0.303 machine guns Fokker (German triplane) TechFacts Maximum speed: 164 km/h Wing span: 7.2 m Length: 5.7 m Range: 298 km Armament: two fixed 7.92 mm Spandau LMG 09/15 machine guns 314-326 120820 11/1/04 3:55 PM Page 317 Chapter 20: War in the Air and at Sea 317 Interestingly, the Dutch designer of the Fokker plane, Anthony Fokker, offered it first to the British. When they refused it, he sold it to the Germans and it became an excellent fighter plane in the war. Submarines World War I submarines were small. Usually, they carried about 35 sailors and 12 torpedoes. But their torpedoes could sink the largest ships. Surface boats had to develop special methods to detect and destroy enemy sub- marines. Navies developed hydrophones (listen- ing equipment) to pick up the sound of the submarines’ engines underwater. By the end of the war, they also used sound echoes to detect 2. Both sides also developed effective machine the position of the submarines. The surface guns during the war. Soldiers called them “cof- ships then dropped depth charges (explosive fee grinders” because they ground to pieces devices) to destroy the U-boats. anyone or anything in their range. It was partly because machine guns mowed down any attacking soldiers who ventured out of 1. Competition to build better weapons helped their trenches that neither side could gain to spur on technological developments dur- much territory in the war.What do you think ing the war. Did these developments have of this technological advance? What are some benefits after the war? How do you think the of the advantages and disadvantages of tech- advances in airplanes and submarines could nological advances during wartimes? be used in peacetime? Signal Periscopes mast Bridge steering wheel Conning tower Torpedo hatchway Rail Steering rudder Steering wheel Deck Reversing gear Sleeping berths Torpedo Accumulators tubes Propellers Outer water- Steering rudder Torpedo-trimming tanks ballast tanks Detachable safety keel Stern hydroplanes Inner water-ballast tanks Fuel oil Forward tanks hydroplanes Electric Oil engines Sleeping berths Torpedo motors tubes Outer hull Inner hull Central driving position Officer’s quarters 314-326 120820 11/1/04 3:55 PM Page 318 318 Unit 4: Canada and World War I, 1914-1919 Profile Billy Bishop: Canadian War Ace uring World War I, a Billy Bishop was awarded Dyoung pilot named Billy the Victoria Cross by Britain Bishop became a Canadian and the highest honours of hero. As a boy in Owen Sound, France. He went on to become Ontario, Billy Bishop practised Director of Recruiting for the shooting at moving targets Royal Canadian Air Force dur- with his rifle in the ing World War II in 1940. woods. His firing expertise made him one of the greatest 1. What qualities do you think fighter pilots the an air ace like Billy Bishop Allies ever had. needed to have? On his first day 2. Find out more about in action, he another accomplished shot down a Canadian flyer in the war German plane. such as Billy Barker, In one five-day Raymond Collishaw, Roy period, Bishop Brown,A.A. McLeod, or destroyed 13 Donald McLaren.Where planes. were they from, what Billy often role did they play in the flew the skies war, and what were their alone. On one accomplishments? occasion, he 3. Why do you think it is attacked a German important that we remember air base near people like Billy Bishop? How Cambrai, France. can we remember all the Two German fighters others who fought but are flew up to chase him. not as well known? Bishop shot down both of them. Two more enemy planes came up to attack him. One fell from the deadly fire from Bishop’s gun. The other was driven off, out of ammunition. Billy Bishop returned safely to his home field. 314-326 120820 11/1/04 3:55 PM Page 319 Chapter 20: War in the Air and at Sea 319 Fast Forward Billy Bishop Goes to War Billy Bishop Goes to War is one of the most successful Canadian plays ever written. It cele- brates the life and accomplishments of Bishop and is dedicated to all who fought in World War I. You can still see the play performed across the country.